A technique known as “fracturing,” or “fracking,” is often used to increase the permeability of shale or other low-permeability formations so that hydrocarbons may be more easily extracted from the formation. Fracking typically involves perforating the casing of a wellbore (e.g., using a perforation gun) and injecting water or other fluid into the formation at very high pressures, thereby opening existing fractures and creating new ones in the formation. The fractures initially form in the general vicinity of the perforations and propagate outwardly from the well. The directional tendency of such fracture propagation can often be predicted based on an analysis of the composition and stress fields in the formation, yet the precise placement and extent of the resulting fractures remains unpredictable. Techniques that are commonly used to model or estimate the precise locations of fractures are computationally intensive and thus tedious and time-consuming. In some cases, they are inaccurate and, therefore, unreliable as a means for evaluating the effectiveness of the fracking job or tracking any kind of microseismic activity.